Graduation Can Wait: Startups Recruiting Pandemic-Weary CS Students For Gap Year

theodp writes: That was then: Lamenting a dire shortage of U.S. computer science grads, tech investors Ali and Hadi Partovi launched Code.org in 2013 with backing from the world's largest tech firms to push coding into America's K-12 classrooms.

This is now: CS graduation can wait. Bloomberg News' Ellen Huet reports that some Silicon Valley startups, hungry for young talent, are making lemonade from COVID-19 lemons, presenting pandemic-weary CS students with an alternative to school: remote gap-year internships aimed specifically at young people looking for alternatives to a dismal school year.

Huet writes: "Dozens of Silicon Valley startups are looking to hire fall interns, according to a list assembled by startup accelerator Y Combinator. This month, venture firm Neo organized a virtual career fair for 120 students and a range of startups (including Code.org), hoping to match pairs for internships during the upcoming academic year. And venture firm Contrary Capital is offering to invest $100,000 in five teams of entrepreneurs if they take a gap year from school to build a company. Such arrangements allow interns to get paid and learn on the job, while avoiding paying tens of thousands of dollars for Zoom University. It also means that companies willing to improvise on hiring and gamble on younger workers may get new access to fresh talent. Ali Partovi, Neo's chief executive officer, said the firm surveyed 120 students who are part of its mentorship programs and found that 46% of them are interested in taking a gap semester and 21% are interested in taking a gap year."

So, is now a good time for CS majors to turn on, tune in, drop out?

Dup?

[bosef1]

https://news.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]

Re:

[mschaffer]

Yes, dup. Even used the same hackneyed phrasing: "pandemic-weary cs students"

Re:

[nospam007]

Now it's 2 Gap years.

Re: Dup?

[BarbaraHudson]

2 gap years? If you agree to be an intern it's more likely "gap between 2 ears."

programming jobs?

[catmistake]

I seriously doubt these are actual computer science jobs in Silicon Valley. Coding is not computer science. No one needs a CS degree to be a fantastic programmer with an excellent, high paying programmer job, nor any degree for that matter.

Re: programming jobs?

[BarbaraHudson]

Babelfish "intern" means "you're lucky we'll pay some of your expenses but you're better off financially working a minimum wage job. And it will look crap on your resumé because employers will know you've already worked for free to 'live the dream '."

Re:

[syousef]

Depends entirely on what you're coding.

Is /. getting paid for posting this?

[rsilvergun]

it's the third time I've seen this story. Stay in School Kids. You need that degree. Those startups will use you up and throw you out. Then you won't have a degree and nobody'll hire you because you don't have a degree and they can just get a cheap H1-B visa holder.

Only US

[OMBad]

The rest of the world is opening up. Only the US has this problem due to our failed leadership www.fark.com/politics

Donâ(TM)t be a fool

[backslashdot]

Unless youâ(TM)re starting the next Microsoft or Apple (ask yourself objectively, are you really?) only then quit. Do you have strong autodidactic skills. Also do you have good business and people skills. By people skills I mean can you BS? If not donâ(TM)t be a fool, stay in school. Finish your degree!

Yes Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out, but they had a strong vision and sense of direction .. and the right partners to execute that vision.

Saturating the Market

[Hydrian]

This sounds like a plan of the tech industry to get lower paid employees. Employers will hire resource strapped people with very targeted training provided by the company (free / low cost) claiming it as good as a degree for get a job at THEIR company. They hire people the people to do a lower wage job that actually required higher cognitive ability / creativity. With targeted training, it isn't necessity easy to get job at another company. The job pay stays low because they don't have a formal degree. And

Why Not?

[EndlessNameless]

Option one is paying for a rushed online-only course. The quality of the materials, assignments, and lectures will be questionable. Social and professional contacts will be minimal.

Option two is gaining real world experience and possibly being paid. Unpaid internships are generally bullshit, but they're common. Professional contacts won't be as extensive as a good career-focused university program, but you'll still have that opportunity when normal classes resume.

I'd probably bite in that position. Worst ca